Study finds 1.4m are driving on bald tyres

The study by driver savings site Confused.com involved spot checks of more than 1,000 vehicles in 10 cities around the country.

A fifth of vehicles checked had at least one tyre with tread below 3mm, which is the point at which major manufactures recommend you change your tyres.

A total of three per cent – the equivalent of 1.4M motorists - were found to have at least one illegal tyre below the 1.6mm minimum limit.

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: “Tyre tread ignorance could land offenders with fines of up to £2,500 per tyre, invalidate their insurance or lead to an accident.

“By conducting a few simple checks each month, such as the 20p test, drivers can keep themselves and other motorists safe. Driving has become expensive enough as it is, and avoiding unwanted fines should be incentive enough to comply with road safety regulations.”

Additional research showed that 61 per cent of motorists don’t know what the minimum legal tread depth is and 55 per cent don’t know how to check their tyres. More than one in 10 motorists have never had the tyres checked of their car.

More research by the driver savings site shows almost one in 20 UK drivers have had an accident due to defective tyres, almost a tenth of which happened this year and a further one in seven in 2017.

The issue could be due to the significant number of drivers who don’t know how to conduct tyre checks, or what guidelines suggest. But it isn’t just knowing how to change a tyre that could catch drivers out. Confused.com said drivers should consider rotating their tyres every 6,000 miles because those at the front wear out faster than those at the back, and this could be key to keeping tyres from balding too quickly.